This invention relates to a table-mounted, substantially horizontal, stringed musical instrument, and more particularly to a resonator guitar in which the tuning structure for the strings has been improved.
Stringed musical instruments mounted substantially horizontal upon tables and having elongated strings mounted for operative tuning by pedals or knee levers, are well known in the art. One such stringed musical instrument is the pedal steel guitar, in which pedals and knee levers are connected mechanically to the strings to change the tension in the strings and therefore the tone of the instrument. The pedal steel guitar is an electrical guitar, provided with an electrical pick-up and an amplifier, as opposed to an acoustical guitar incorporating a resonator.
In the above pedal steel guitars, the strings extend the full length of the body of the instrument and are bent sharply about the bridge of the instrument. Thus, the movement of the strings by vibration from playing, and by tuning adjustments, create chafing between the strings and the bridge, ultimately resulting in string breakage.
Another stringed musical instrument, known in the trade as a "Do-Bro", is an acoustical guitar with a resonator in the body of the guitar protected by a perforated cover. The instrument is held by the performer against his body or on his lap and played with picks and bars as a conventional acoustical guitar. The "Do-Bro" does not utilize pedals or knee levers to activate the strings, which are fixed upon the instrument.